On 26 October 2011, the Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES) for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hosted a discussion and workshop entitled Wild Meat, Bushmeat, Livelihoods, and Sustainability: Implications for Food Security, Zoonoses, Food Safety, and Biodiversity Conservation. Over 40 participants from FAO attended the event at headquarters.

The goals of the workshop and discussion were to (1) share knowledge, perspectives, and views regarding this transversal issue and (2) to identify synergies and opportunities for further in-house collaboration.

This event helped narrow this complex issue into four core themes: Diseases, Food, Incomes, and Conservation. These themes came up repeatedly in the presentations.

Incomes: In addition to being a subsistence source of protein, wildlife is harvested for household incomes and livelihoods. The wild meat value chain is very well-organized and informal. People are also willing to pay more for exotic animals or wild meat compared with what they will pay for livestock;

FAO’s focus on wildlife harvesting falls within the remit of the evolving One Health approach due to its multidimensional links to biodiversity conservation, diseases, health and well-being, gender, livelihoods, nutrition, food safety and food security, as well as emerging trends on all these aspects, including globalisation.